It's also going to put the screws to Obama who will be caught between
sensible policy on one hand and fundamentalist Republicans on the other
who will be the settler's cheerleaders when they start bashing
Palastinian heads. What an impossibly screwed up situation the settlers
have put Israel into. Israel's ultimate choice will be to do some
combination of ethnic clensing and bantustans on one hand, or retreat
into pre-'67 Israel with emboldened and outraged Pals for whom peace and
a two state solution are not on the agenda. Got to hand it to the
religious nationalists. Those unlettered and narrowminded folks who
never read a Shakespeare tragedy sure managed to conjure up one all by
themselves. Wish I could skip the ending on this one. I suspect that it
will make the last act of Hamlet look like a nice family get together.

If Israel shows greater flexibility, it can still influence the post-nuclear deal agenda ; If Israel digs in its heels, it will increasingly become a liability rather than a strategic asset to the U.S.

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